No Matter What
by 1Thunderfire
Summary: Having witnessed Bowser nearly destroy Bonneton and kidnap his sister, Cappy knows he cannot rescue her alone. He's also seen another person try to rescue someone dear to him. Maybe he could ask for Mario's help? For the latter also has a quest of his own.


**I'M ALIIIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEE!  
**

 **Yes, dear readers, I'm back again and it has been a long time so apologies about that. I've not been able to write anything since I got my new job because while it's going well so far, I no longer had the writing space or time I was so used to and when you haven't wrote anything for ages, it is really hard to get back into it. I've been working on a new Kirby story in my bedroom but it's not good for writing in long. And without an actual proper space to write, well, nothing really gets done... :(**

 **But now I have finally got a desk at home so I hope to get writing more again. And since it's been a while, I thought I'd** **help myself** **back into the swing of things with a quick story focussing on Cappy since I've been playing _Super Mario Odyssey_ and that game is awesome. It has also been ages since I last wrote something Mario-related but this game has inspired me. Here's hoping for a great Mario future! So please read and enjoy and thanks for sticking with me. It's always appreciated. :D**

 **(P.S Having said all that about writing at home, I actually did this one at work since I literally had nothing else to do. Very unusual, indeed. ^^)**

* * *

 **No Matter What  
**

The man had fallen from the sky and yet he was still breathing.

Cappy prodded the figure uncertainly; the first thing he had done upon finding the figure sprawled out on the black, felt-like ground was panic. One generally did not see people plummet through the air to what should have been a certain death on a regular basis. Realistically speaking, the man should have been instantly killed. While he was not entirely sure about how bipeds functionally worked, he had assumed that those who fell from a great distance, those who could not fly or float, had no chance of survival, unable to take the crushing, instant blow. Clearly he had been wrong.

But then again, he had thought afterwards, seeing the man breathing at a steady pace, maybe that was reserved for normal people, or at least for a given degree of normal within this wacky world. This figure here, wearing hardy blue overalls and a red shirt, was clearly not normal. Why else would he have been upon the deck of that great airship cruising over the land known as the Mushroom Kingdom? An airship that was piloted by a ferocious, fire-breathing monster possessed of sharp teeth and sharper spikes, wreaking havoc wherever he pleased, taking whatever he desired. One who had done his best to lay ruin to Cappy's homeland of Bonneton within the Cap Kingdom… and one that had kidnapped Cappy's sister, Tiara.

Cappy burned with anger still at the deed. The terrible beast had destroyed Bonneton's airships with continuous cannon-fire for no apparent reason; what did they have of value to this gigantic, spike-wielding Koopa king? Obviously not the airships since he had a suitably deadly one of his own. As it turned out, they did have something considered valuable: a Bonneter whose natural form took the shape of a tiara. Someone fit to rest on the head of another kingdom's princess. They had posed no threat; had never even had contact with the monster before. There was no real need to take one of their people. She was essentially a trophy: nothing more.

 _And I couldn't do a thing!_ Cappy seethed. It had just been a normal, dull day of doing nothing much before the great airship attacked, causing great fire and ruin before seizing the desired prize. Bonneters were generally small and meek and even if Cappy had confronted the giant monster right there, he had no chance of defeating him. Yes, he chased down the airship after, speeding through the sky as fast as his body allowed him since he had no airship of his own but he hadn't the foggiest idea of what he was supposed to do. Plead with the beast to let Tiara go and offer himself in place? Haha, no: he was the wrong shape and he wouldn't have been able to transform his natural form into that of another for as long as the fire-breather wanted without a similar item to copy. He doubted the monster would have agreed to that. And even if Cappy did just that, what would he have done afterwards? He couldn't have just fled and left the other person behind even if he didn't know who she was; that would have been a considerably despicable thing to do, right?

And Tiara… she was only young. She would have been too scared to even try and flee. And now she was no doubt in an area she had never seen before; even if she did escape, there was no way she would know how to then get home. That she was not alone comforted him only a little; she would still be terrified. He couldn't bear the thought of it.

Older siblings were supposed to look after younger siblings, Cappy thought, and he had failed miserably.

Enter this person before him.

He hadn't noticed how the man had managed to board the airship in the first place but Cappy had suddenly heard a stomp of boots on the wooden floors and saw the man confront the Koopa king, seemingly without fear, without hesitation. Almost as if he had done this before.

 _I wish I could have done as much._

He possessed some odd skills, jumping about the place, avoiding the Koopa King's great blows by somersaulting or flipping to one side, whichever the best option was and at one point, just about dodged a speeding fireball launched his way, searing the very air with extreme heat. He glared at his towering opponent as he dodged another attack. Nothing would stop him in his goal.

Cappy had watched the battle intensely, impressed by the skill displayed, wishing he could something, anything, help this person who was fighting to save the one he cared for. He had to win; he needed to win.

The Koopa King had been wearing a glorious white tuxedo with a great top hat (the same kind of shape as Cappy much to the latter's chagrin) and now threw the weaponised article at his nemesis, knocking off his own red cap. His opponent briefly looked surprised, perhaps because he had only just avoided what could have been a devastating blow.

He didn't expect the weapon to boomerang straight into his back, knocking him right off the airship and through the darkening clouds to the land far below.

Everything had happened so fast that Cappy could only look on in dismay as the lady in pink – a princess in fact – wailed for her would-be saviour and the horrible monster laughed triumphantly. He turned the airship away hovering above the Mushroom Kingdom for destinations yet unknown, taking away the princess and, most importantly, Tiara with him. The red cap he had knocked off drifted into the path of the propellers and was instantly shredded.

As Cappy floated in place, frozen with paralyzing indecision and fear, a piece of red cloth, emblazoned with the letter M, wafted down before him. He clutched the item as if it could help him somehow, unable to believe what he had just witnessed. Then, suddenly realising what had happened, he yelped and swooped down below the thickening cloud, wondering what he would see, hoping he wasn't too late...

And now it came to this, Cappy thought, seeing the unconscious figure laid out. He hadn't known whether to go searching for someone to help the man and now he bitterly regretted the fact; he could have been in mortal danger! Maybe he was just afraid that the man would cease to be if he left him on his own… yes, that was it…

He moved forwards to check whether he… he just needed to check something. …No, there was definitely still a pulse. He seemed as fine as he could be; he didn't even appear to have any broken bones; he was just out cold. He had bones, right? A ghostly figure himself, Cappy didn't possess bones. Was it too late to go looking for someone? Should he stay here in case the stranger woke up? Argh, he wished he could do something!

 _If only I'd done something sooner. Anything. Tiara wouldn't be in danger now. Maybe. And this man here… his name's Mario, right?_

Yes, he was sure of it; that was the name the princess had called out. Obviously they knew each then. This Mario had fought against the Koopa King before and he would do anything to save the princess in question.

 _I need his help._

Cappy looked down, wondering if he was being selfish. Was he even going to give this… Mario... time to recover? He didn't even know him and yet he felt it was OK to ask him out of the blue to go on what would surely be a dangerous quest to rescue the one he loved? Hell, he didn't know just how capable he was of embarking on such a mission.

But… he was desperate. He had to do something. And if that meant asking a complete stranger who had just lost the battle to save the one he cared for, then so be it.

Hey, that meant they wanted the same thing, right?

He felt sure he could trust this person.

Just as he thought about trying to wake the figure again, the person in question suddenly jumped up and saw a capped ghost stare straight at him.

The stranger looked ready for a fight.

Without warning, Cappy fled.

 _If he could beat up that monster, what could he do to me?!_ Cappy panicked as he zipped through the gathering fog on the black hills of Bonneton. He ignored whatever was being shouted behind him. _He's coming after me! He's coming after me! What's he going to do?!_

 _Oh, mamma mia,_ Mario groaned, seeing the ghost-like creature flee. His head throbbed; he didn't want to deal with this. _He probably thought I was going to fight him or something. But I need to know what's going on. Why has this happened to me more times than I care to remember?_ He pressed a hand against this bruised side. _I just wish he'd slow down!_

Mario ran on and later noted how the ground felt strangely soft and yet firm, much like the materials used in making headgear. The surrounding area was filled with fog making the lights of faraway buildings blurred and soft. On the way, he saw a couple of other Bonneters, looking equally as scared.

"Are you one of them?" one of them had asked fearfully.

 _One of whom?_ Mario thought. He cast his gaze at the destroyed, still-smoking airships. _What happened here?_ Yet he felt he didn't need an answer to that question: it was Bowser. It was always Bowser.

After a couple of minutes of what seemed like frantic chasing, Cappy trembled behind a gate and belatedly realised he was still holding a piece of the cap. Mario paused and gave a puzzled glance to the creature that rather reminded him of an Eerie wearing too big a hat. He considered stepping forwards but seemingly decided against it. He had dealt with similar situations such as this before. With that, Cappy slowly began to calm down. This Mario… didn't seem too threatening. Not threatening at all really.

 _It's been a horrible day,_ Cappy told himself. _It's only natural I'd be this jumpy, right?_

Cappy edged out from his place of security and looked Mario in the eye.

"So sorry for running away like that," he mumbled. "You startled me… and I do startle quite easily…"

"That's OK," Mario assured the Bonneter. "I just didn't know what was going on."

He cast a look to the now-dark sky: he had fallen all the way from up there? Mario didn't bother querying this to himself; he felt it would be bad luck to even try considering the things he had survived before. If he ever thought that he was invincible, then no doubt he would come to a sticky end at that very moment…

 _It could have been worse,_ Mario thought, brushing off his own concerns as best as possible. _It's not as if worse things haven't happened._

The air having cleared a little between them, Cappy nevertheless hesitated somewhat but Mario seemed OK in waiting for him to continue. Maybe this crazy idea would work after all. There might not have been any workable airships left in the Cap Kingdom… but there was one in the next kingdom over. He just wouldn't be able to get there by himself. He took a deep breath and laid out his tale.

As Cappy told him about Tiara, he was emboldened by Mario appearing sympathetic to his plight, knowing that they were effectively in the same boat. There were no Bonneters he could turn to for help; he was on his own but that wouldn't stop him from doing something. You would do anything for your family, right?

 _Wouldn't you know it?_ Mario inwardly spoke. _All I have is Luigi. I'd do anything for him too. At least he's not been tangled up in this; at least he's safe. As safe as one can be when dealing with Professor E. Gadd anyway._

His thoughts turned over to the earlier kidnapping of Princess Peach and he reflected sadly that once again he had been foiled in rescuing her straight away and this time he seemed out of his depth. Would Bowser never give up? What kind of hero was Mario if he couldn't prevent one person from being kidnapped by the same person time and time again? He wondered at times why he had never been called out on it even though he was but one person. It was something that plagued on Mario's mind every now and then. He often wondered if he was strong to deal with whatever was going to be thrown at him. If only he could stop Bower in time every time, life would be so much easier…

Some things, however, never seemed to change and after so many years, it seemed to be a fixed certainty in his life. Whenever Bowser would strike, there was not a chance that Mario would give up either. Whatever he needed to do to save Peach, he would do it.

 _Ahh, Peach, why does this keep happening to you? Maybe when all this is over, I'll ask you what I really want…_

 _Will that ever happen though?_

"It seems we're after the same thing," Cappy told Mario, interrupting the latter's thoughts, now that he knew the name of the pink princess. "Maybe we should team up!" _Oh, please agree,_ Cappy thought, looking at Mario with pleading eyes. _I… don't know what to do if you say no._

Mario gave a single nod; he had already been thinking the same thing. The Bonneter looked desperate and he could never turn down such a plea of help. "Of course," he replied. "We'll save them together, eh?" He was quite surprised by Cappy's eyes suddenly lighting up and bobbing up and down on the spot with joy.

"Thank you!" he cried. "This really means a lot to me." _Wow, he didn't even have to think about it. We should make it. We'll be able to do it._

 _Don't worry Tiara, I'm coming for you._

Mario gave a small smile in return; it often helped having a companion on his adventures; he felt less alone when it came to facing unknown dangers, more confident. He absent-mindedly touched his head only to remember that he no longer had his beloved hat. OK, Bowser was going to have to pay for that one.

"Ummm," Mario hesitated. "This sounds stupid but… you wouldn't happen to have a spare hat would you?" He looked somewhat embarrassed; it honestly shouldn't have been important at all. "I, uhh, never go without one and I wouldn't like to be distracted because of it…"

"Is that all?" Cappy chuckled, feeling a little more brave. He wasn't going to quibble a person's hat choice considering that he and his fellow Bonneters were, to put it one way, very well acquainted with hats. If it helped Mario out, then he was all for it. "I can help you there!"

To Mario's sudden surprise, Cappy practically threw himself on top of Mario's head as a makeshift hat. Then again, at this point, there wasn't much use being surprised considering the things Mario had seen. Still, one had to have the right kind of hat and Cappy was more than happy to oblige since he had the remaining scrap of the usual hat in question. He settled down again as the red hat his new companion preferred. It was quite comfortable actually; he could quite see its appeal.

…It wasn't normally the done thing to take up residence on a person's head so soon and offer the ability to capture things he had to admit, but hey, it had to be done. He was sure Mario would pick it up in no time. And to think, if he hadn't followed Bowser's airship, he wouldn't have met Mario and he wouldn't have been able to at least gain the opportunity to rescue Tiara. Strange how things had worked out, huh?

"Ready?" Cappy asked.

"Yeah," Mario replied. "Let's-a go."

"OK!" Cappy announced brightly. "We better head to Top-Hat Tower then!"

Mario looked ahead and saw that the tower couldn't be missed against the backdrop of a bright, full moon. And all he had to do was beat up some of Bowser's minions first thing. He was feeling more at ease already.

"Um, Mario?" said Cappy as the Mushroom Kingdom's hero began walking through the little village of Bonneton. "Thanks for agreeing to help. I feel sure we'll be able to rescue Tiara and Princess Peach. We'll take down Bowser together!"

Mario tipped Cappy in the same manner he would have done with his own hat. No matter what happened, there was always a way and he would do what he always did, no matter what. Whatever he did, he would always be risking his life but his heart had always belonged to one person and she was worth that risk. "Same here, Cappy. I know that I'm not alone."

Feeling a renewed sense of hope and stronger than before, the two new companions crossed the bridge hanging over the fog, taking the first steps to what would become a grand odyssey in the quest to save the ones they loved.


End file.
